Thanks, you have a good eye. I will check the tires out when I get the bike. If I get the '03 it's a 4hr ride home, I won't be doing that on 12 yr old rubber.

 

Hello and welcome,

I think you've see there are any number of responses to your question.
Do yourself a favor, ask to ride both, you should get a feel for which one you want.

Many different things to be done once you buy, never heard a Harley owner say he's finished his mods.

Buy, ride, fix, adjust, enjoy, Buy, ride, fix, adjust, enjoy, Buy, ride, fix, adjust, enjoy . . . do you see a trend here?

Regards,

.

 

It's not that the ride is poor, it's the vibration from the engine at highway speeds. The solid mount bikes are a lot more "buzzy" at freeway speeds. In terms of soaking up road bumps there shouldn't be much difference between the two.

As for retrofitting the mounts to an older bike, well, anything's possible if you have enough money. Realistically though, as others have said, it's not an option.

Take the bike out for a test ride (assuming the owner will allow it) and see how it feels. It's possible that you won't mind the older model's vibration. If you can't test ride that one, it's possible that your local Harley dealer might have a solid mount Sporty in their used inventory. If you've got your endorsement you can go there and pretend you're interested in the dealer's bike and test drive it to see how the solid mount models feel.

All that said, if you love the '03, buy it. Sometimes it's the things with more quirks that we love the most.

Oh, and tires... If the '03 does have ancient rubber on it, there are a lot of good options out there other than the OE Dunlops. A lot of people really like the Michelin Commander II tires, and they seem great. Personally I just put a set of Avon Cobras on my bike and I'm liking them a lot so far. The Avons are much better in the rain than the OE tires were even when the OE tires were new.

 

The rubber wasn't real old on my 1200 when I got it, but there wasn't much tread left on the rear tire - less than 1/16". It was a cool sunny day, so I just took it easy on the 400 mile ride home. Had Dunlops on it, so I wasn't worried about tire failure; even if they don't have the best ride and traction, Dunlops are strong tires. That worn rear tire sure broke loose easy on corners, though, had to be gentle on the throttle till it got straight. First thing it got at home was an oil change and Avon Cobra tires. Got the front tube at a Harley dealer, had nice heavy duty tubes with steel valve stems; even though they were only a couple bucks more than internet cheapies, I wasn't worried about money, keeping that front tire inflated is kinda important to me. If/when you replace a tire on a cast wheel, I'd recommend a steel bolt in valve - I had a rubber stem break off once when I tried to put air in it. Was really glad it did, much better to fail in the garage than on the highway!

added edit: Just remembered, when I pulled the rubber off the sporty (that inner rub strip, too), the rim was cracking across the weld on the inside. Bummer, new wheel right away, more money. I doubt most shops would have caught that, had some light rust over it, saw the crack when I cleaned it up. Most shops would just have thrown a new tube and tire on it and gone no further. If/when you replace the front rubber, good idea to replace that inner strip (like a big rubber band, covers the spoke ends in the rim), too, it's cheap. I don't know if a cracked rim would give you any warning before it let go or not, mine's the only one I've heard of.

Changing tires can be a chore, but I'm lucky, got a guy to help out...

 

That's a good thing then. My buds 03 got knocked over in an enclosed trailer on the way to Sturgis a couple years ago. His tank has a dent in that spot form the handlebar of the bike that his was next to. Trust me, he had a freaking cow when he saw it. So in other words, he would kill for that tank. LOL